Kick me. . . then weigh in!

Actually, you don’t need to kick me, since I’m kicking myself this afternoon. I’ve been planning (and announcing that I’ve been planning) to run a series on the common core standards that Utah, along with most other states, adopted when the Obama administration made this step a prerequisite for earning Race to the Top education grant money.

But first I needed to grade all those AP essays sitting in my Turnitin.com inbox, and finish putting together my summer online courses, and entertain visiting children along with 30 plus law students over the Easter holidays . . . and anyway, the standards aren’t going anywhere, right?

Well, it turns out that the Utah State Board of Education is seeking public comments on Utah’s common core standards, this coming week . . . and only this coming week. Whew! Whatever one thinks of these new standards, and I’ve said earlier that I find much to like, they will force major changes in the textbooks we use, the topics we teach, and the tests our students take. In fact, that’s the whole purpose of the common core. While there’s some question about whether standards really drive change – I’ve blogged on this subject before, and will return to it this week – standards clearly drive expenditures. And the common core isn’t going to come cheap.

For those of you who would like to hear about this directly from the Board of Education, there will be a public forum on Thursday, April 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Granite District board room, 2500 South State Street, Salt Lake City. The event will also be streamed live. To get more more details, or to find out how to submit comments to the Board of Education, follow this link:

Meanwhile, I’m going to scramble to post more about the standards, including why they are increasingly controversial in some circles. If you have something to offer to this debate, please weigh in. I’m welcoming guest bloggers. In fact, I plan to post my first guest blog on the subject later this afternoon.

One comment

Aaron

It has been my experience that ASSESSMENTS drive change, not standards. When assessment changes, teaching changes. An assessment is where students show their proficiency on standards. I teach the standards and help students show their proficiency on those standards. If assessments are simple computations, then students will be taught how to compute. If assessments are open-ended responses requiring reasoning and reflection, then students will be taught how to reason, reflect and respond.